The Ancient One and End of the Year Gifts

My students and I were so lucky to receive a copy of T.A. Barron's fantasy adventure, "The Ancient One." A couple of my students were excited to get their hands on a copy and begin reading.

We normally have independent reading time during our Daily 5 and they decided to write a short review on what they thought so far:

The students are enjoying the fact that this book is an adventure about helping the environment.  My one student Kate who is reading was excited to see the main character's name - Kate!

My fourth graders enjoy adventure, suspense, and visuals - the maps that can be found on T.A. Barron's site go right along with the stories.  How cool is that? My children are so impressionable right now and some have developed a dislike for reading :( However, when they can relate to a story and follow a character that they love, they feel like they are a part of it.  

You can find "The Ancient One" at Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, and Amazon! :) T.A. Barron has many other great books that you can check out.  I personally want to check out "The Wisdom of Merlin" myself.


Sooooo it's the end of the year.  My fourth graders have accomplished so much and they were wonderful to work with.  I knew that they deserved wonderful things sooo of course I went to Oriental Trading for my party needs.  I am also getting married this Saturday (4 days, no big deal) and they also are amazing with wedding supplies!

These tote bags were adorable to put lots of goodies in for my kids.  They were bigger than I had expected, but they definitely hold their weight.  These are perfect for lighter objects however, because I know with lbs and lbs of weight, these would break.  I told the kiddos that they would be able to put their beach stuff in these (towel, sunglasses, sunscreen) or put a light book and personal belongings in them as well. 

My kids (at all ages) love oriental trading prizes.  I got the sticky hands (they LOVE anything like this!) and some fun mini neon bouncy balls!  These are mini though and I don't recommend for younger children. 

 I wrapped their goodies in treat bags from the dollar tree to stay organized with the smaller items.  

My fourth graders faces light up with these ADORABLE FOXES.  I can't... they are just too cute.  My 9 and 10 year old boys and girls loved them :) They come in blue, pink, orange, and red.  

I am always a happy customer with Oriental Trading!

Disclaimer: Oriental Trading sent me products in exchange for a blog post, but all opinions in this post are mine.

The World of Foxyland

 My first graders and I had the chance to review "Welcome to Foxyland" by Wald Peterson.  My kiddos always get very excited about read alouds, especially about animals :)

"Welcome to Foxyland" is about Foxycat (half fox, half cat) going on adventures through his world, Foxyland.  He encounters many fun animal friends and his world is very magical.  The kids dove right in with loving Foxycat and excited to see what he was going to do next.

Here is a preview below of what the text looks like:

 As you can see, the pages are a little lengthy.  I do not recommend to Kindergarten or below, but definitely first grade and above.  We split this book into chapters and the read aloud took 3 times.  This gave me the opportunity to discuss key factors of text like predictions, main idea, details, characterization, and setting.  

The way Wald Peterson describes the world of Foxyland is that of a dream.  It allowed my firsties to dive into a magical land that is very much unlike earth... It looks like it, but one of my students said it was "magical" and "really cool" :) 

My kiddos loved the book and even though it was lengthier than some of my read alouds, this book held their attention.  During their free time after their work was finished, some of them even drew the lovable and curious Foxycat.

If you would like to check out more information or purchase Foxycat for your students, please click HERE and explore the fun of Foxyland! :) Through this link, there are even chances to WIN your own copy!!!

Have a wonderful and foxy day everyone!

Teapot and the Dragon

Hi everyone! I was very honored to be sent a copy of "Teapot and the Dragon" by Nick Jordan and right away, my kiddos were intrigued by the cover.  We had studied maps so they quickly realized that it was a teapot-shaped sort of island or country. The characters, Princess Rosehip, Prince Spoon, and Lord Lid of Lid, left my kids snickering in the background as I read.  "Lord Lid of Lid!" one girl would exclaim. 

 What I liked about "Teapot and the Dragon" was that it was different than other children fairy tale books.  Normally, you see princesses in stories that have everything they could ever want, maybe run away, or set out to meet Prince Charming.  This story, Princess Rosehip does need to choose a Prince, but I like that she is independent and could do without a prince (as long as she was saved from boredom.)

Below is one of my students' favorite pages.. she likes the illustrations and the fact that (surprise!) one of the dragons is not what they seem ;)

Overall, this book was cute... but it was not an appropriate read aloud level for my Kindergarten/First graders.  Some of it went over their heads, and a lot of characters were introduced randomly that confused them.  I answered their questions and we took it slow - they are very advanced for their grade level, but I would think this would be better for second or third grade. I look forward to reading more from Nick Jordan in the future!  Check out his website where you can learn more about "Teapot and the Dragon," and also purchase if you would like.

I leave you with a couple pictures that 2 of my lovely students drew based on the cover of the book - two kindergarteners - look how artistic they are! :) I am one proud teacher.